- Venue
- Themla Hulbert Gallery
- Starts
- Saturday, September 14, 2019
- Ends
- Saturday, October 26, 2019
- Address
- Thelma Hulbert Gallery, Elmfield House, Dowell Street, Honiton, EX14 1LX
- Location
- South West England
- Organiser
- Thelma Hulbert Gallery
Well Trodden Wrong Ways a new exhibition exploring East Devon’s Jurassic Coast.
The Jurassic coast is 95 miles of evidence of 185 million years of the earth’s history. Its path is trodden by 22 million visitors each year.
This landscape is fascinating – it is forever changing at a pace which seems both fast, yet also incredibly slow. Through sculpture, film, photography and drawing, artist Jo Lathwood and photographer Paul Blakemore have collaborated to create a new body of work which explores our relationship to this special place.
Man understands that we must leave no trace if we wish to conserve our natural heritage, but there is still a human instinct to control, understand and make our mark on nature. Through making a mark consciously or unconsciously, we establish our existence adding to the story of mankind’s impact; a story which can on one hand can be seen as permanent, and on another impermanent.
For this exhibition Lathwood has ‘coded’ the landscape in a series of drawings. You will be able to decipher hidden messages inspired by East Devon’s historical figures. Jo explained: “The coded landscapes reveal truths about our past. Like fossils, they help us understand who we are and add to our understanding of the Earth’s formation”
Following investigations into coastal erosion, Lathwood will also present a new body of work inspired by sea defences – ‘tetrapods’. These engineered geometric forms are designed to cleverly disperse water. Using local stones (clay, sandstone, gypsum, salt, chalk) Lathwood has echoed these structures in the gallery only to return them back to the sea to dissolve after the exhibition.
Paul Blakemore has captured the life and landscape of the Jurassic coast through a series walks, documenting often like a diarist might, a note a thought or idea in film and photography.
The range of subjects captured demonstrates an interest like that of a polymath, one who is curious about all knowledge and its interconnection, or a flaneur; making social observations whilst walking. Yet the documentation is often co-authored as Blakemore invites collaborators to contribute to the work through their own recording of the landscape. The works are more than a contemporary record of the Jurassic coast; a landscape of beauty, a habit and a home, but are also a collective memory.
Paul commented: “I discovered how the communities along the Jurassic coast are changing and adapting with the landscape, an ebb and flow of lives intersecting, I wanted to reveal this activity through a multiplicity of voices”.
The collaborators’ research culminates in a special HARVEST event on the 5th October 2019. During the day, the public will be welcome at the gallery to try natural crafts, dress up like a mythical God of Harvest and sample some tasty treats.
In the evening the artists will be hosting a special Harvest meal with live music celebrating all things locally-sourced from East Devon.
Ticketed £15 Limited availability. See website for more details.
THG’s Curator/Manager, Ruth Gooding explained,
“This is such an exciting project for THG and East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The artists have discovered some fascinating stories about our local area and presented a new body work which inspires you to read the land like a book and record your own observations”.
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ACCOMPANYING EVENTS PROGRAMME
Well Trodden Wrong Ways (14 September – 26 October 2019). Open Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm. Free admission.
PRIVATE VIEW 3- 5pm
Join us to celebrate the opening of Well Trodden Wrong Ways with talks from Jurrassic Coast Ambassadors, Chris Woodruff, Manager, East Devon AONB Partnership and artist Jo Lathwood.
HARVEST/ APPLE DAY
5th October 2019
Free event. Family friendly
2 – 5 pm
Celebrate Harvest and the apple season at THG
Press your own apples, learn natural craft skills, dress up like mythical Gods of Harvest and sample some tasty treats.
LAND SLIP HARVEST ARTIST FEAST AND LIVE MUSIC
Join the artists for a meal to celebrate Harvest in a feast echoing the community meal which followed the Great Landslip of Bindon, 1839, when an enormous section of cliff slid seaward forming Goat Island.
6 – 9 pm
Tickets £15
East Devon Autumn Harvest inspired tapas created by local chef Eve Vergano
Local ales and drink on sale
Limited availability. See website for more details.
Visit www.thelmahulbert.com for more details
